Form structure with tie rod



p 29, 1964 v A. ARRIGHINI 3,150,430

FORM STRUCTURE WITH TIE ROD Filed Feb. 4, 1963 v IN VEN TOR.

ARTIL ARRIGHINI BY% W7? A TORNEYS United States Patent 3,150,430 FtJRM STRUCTURE WITH TIE R01) Artil Arrighini, Southfield, Mich assignor t0 Rocform Corporation, Oak Park, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 255,960 3 Claims. ((31. 25-131) The present invention relates to an improved tie rod for use with forms, walers and tie rod pins in the placement of concrete structures, and, more particularly, in an assembly of a specifically improved tie rod with the pin and waler, which better holds the pin in engagement with the rod to lock up the form through the agency of its waler. The present application is a continuation-inpart of my copending application, Serial No. 510,472, filed May 23, 1955, now abandoned.

For the purpose of spacing prefabricated inner and outer concrete placement forms in proper parallel relation to one another, it is desirable to employ a tie rod of an elongated, uniformly tapered character. This tie rod is clamped to walers associated with the forms by means of tie rod pins. The removal of the rod from the hardened concrete is facilitated by tapering the rod uniformly from end-to-end; and this points to the desirability of fabricating the tie rod of the rod round stock, which can readily be formed to the desired taper on a centerless grinder.

However, ditficulty has been experienced in the provision of axially extending slots in such a rod, adjacent opposite ends thereof, such as are necessary to receive tie rod pins or clips which wedge against a waler through which the rod extends. Under normal procedures, costly drilling or punching and broaching or related forming operations are required to produce such a slot, and it is impossible to manufacture tapered tie rods of the above description by existing methods at an acceptable price.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved tie bar or rod of requisite elongated, uniformly tapered and slot-ted character, suitable for the uses described above, and which can be produced by a simple manufacturing procedure, such as constitutes the subject matter of my copending divisional application, Serial No. 1,833, filed December 7, 1959, now Patent 3,137,938, and on a mass production basis.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a uniformly tapered tie rod of solid circular cross section having an elongated pin slot therein of generally rectangular outline, which slot is rounded at its ends to make possible a desiredly positive wedging and gripping of the tie clip or pin in line engagement with the. slot when driven into the latter, while at the same time permitting ready removal of the tie pin when it has served its purpose.

A further object is to provide an improved combination of such a tie rod with a tie clip or pin of rectangular cross section received in the rods slot, the pin having line engagement along spaced linear edges or corners thereof with the rounded end surface of the slot, so as to better hold the rod and pin in assembly under various conditions, as well as to enable them to be readily separated when desired.

The foregoing as Well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, illustrating a typical installation of the improved tie rod and pin in a concrete placement form assembly employing walers engaged by those parts;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in vertical section along a line corresponding to line 22 of FIG. 1, illustrating the relationship of certain features of the tie rod to coacting elements of the rod, pin and waler assembly;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view schematically illustrating successive steps in forming an elongated slot in the tie rod; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of an end of the completed tie rod, showing the locking pin in section in frictional engagement in the tie rod slot.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the im proved tie rod of the invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 11). This rod is, in its use contemplated by the invention, positioned to extend through transversely aligned circular holes 11 of a pair of facing plyboard or like panels 12 of a concrete placement form structure which is generally designated 13. The structure 13, in general, comprises an arrangement of parallel wood frame members 14 having one or more waler units 15 fixedly associated therewith as a unitary part thereof. Each waler unit includes a pair of parallel elongated pieces 16 of angled cross section which are secured in spaced relation to provide a horizontal slot 17 along the length thereof.

The slots 17 of the respective waler units 15 receive the opposite ends of the tie rod 10, with the latter disposed in the aligned holes 11 of panels 12 and the waler slots 17 disposed at the elevation of the holes 11. The opposite ends of tie rod 11 are provided with elongated slots 18 in the direction of the length thereof to receive the tie clips or pins 19, the slots extending diametrically through the rod in axially spaced alignment and register with one another; and the outer ends of the slots 18 terminate short of the respective opposite ends of the rod.

In use, the forms 13 are clamped in spaced relation to one another by rods 10 extending through the form panel apertures 11 and the Wale-r slots 17 by means of the Wedging tie rod pins 19, which, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, are of elongated rectangular cross section on a horizontal plane through an upright leg 19 thereof. Each pin has wedging engagement with a waler 15, hooking over the top piece 16 thereof, and extends through one of the tie rod slots 18.

In order to facilitate removal of the tie rod from the form, once a concrete wall 20 or the like has been poured between facing panels 12 and is set, it is desirable that the tie rod 10 be uniformly tapered from end-to-end thereof in a degree which will enable proper association of the rod with the panels 12, and ready displacement from holes 11 by an endwise blow or force. A .075" overall taper, independent of the length of the rod, is a satisfactory one.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4, the rectangular cross section of the tie pin 19 affords corners 21 along the shorter dimensioned end surfaces of its upright legs, for a line-wedging purpose to be described.

In producing the tie rod 10, round rod stock of appropriate metal of an appropriate diameter, which may be steel affording adequate ease of working or aluminum in the interest of lightness of weight, is first cut to the required length and is given the appropriate taper over its length, as by the centerless grinder operation mentioned above. As indicated in FIG. 2 of the drawings, a series of holes of substantially less bore size than the diameter of the rod are then drilled diametrically through the rod, in axial alignment and immediate or closely spaced succession to one another, these holes being designated 22. Intervening, relatively thin web portions 23 of the material of the rod are left between the holes 22 by this operation, however the amount of material aggregated in the portions 23 is relatively slight. It is removed as the next operation by punching the rod 10 as indicated in dotted line in FIG. 3. This may be done by a single hardened punch (not shown) of the elongated rectangular outline 24 depicted in FIG. 3. The punch is proportioned so that the elongated parallel sides of the outline 23, hence side portions 25 (FIG. 4) of the completed slot produced thereby, lie within the outmost side are portions 26 of the holes 22, the outline 24 thus subtending minor opposed arcs of holes 22. The opposed, relatively narrow arcuate ends of the slot outline 24 will center on a line through the centers of the respective end holes 22, being segments of circles which are of sufiicient arcuate extent to overspan the ends of tie pin 19 and its corners 21. The ends of the respective slots 18 which are arcuately convex toward the respective outer ends of the rod 16 are specially availed of in the use of the rodpin combination, as will be described.

The above described procedure of drilling and punching the bar results in a slot 18 which is easily produced without requiring special machinery, and is of the desired axially elongated character; and the forces encountered in the punching phase are greatly minimized by bringing the punching outline within the outer side extremities of the drilled outline. It has been found that a single punching operation to produce a slotted aperture of elongated character cannot be performed without damage to or destruction of the tapered rod stock. The cost of producing the article is negligible as compared with that of producing a corresponding slot by drilling, broaching and other relatively complex machining operations.

It is to be understood that the dimensional differential between the diameter of the holes 26 and the width of the punched slot outline 24 may vary somewhat, so long as the slot dimension is the lesser of the two. The number of holes 22 may be varied, as may their axial spacing from one another. However, it is desirable that the intervening material 23 be kept to a minimum. It is preferable that three holes be provided for a slot 18 of the character shown in FIG. 4, however, depending upon specific dimensions, two may suffice or more than three may be desired.

In use, the rod 19 is inserted through the walers and form panels 12 in the manner described above, and the tie or wedge pins or clips 19 are inserted downwardly (in the adaptation of the invention herein shown) in the respective slots 18, being then driven into the latter to wedge at opposite ends of the pins cross sectional outline between the waler members 16 and the outer rounded ends of the respective rod slots 18. The pins 19 finally hook over and engage the uppermost waler member.

It is also possible to employ the rod and pin combination of the invention in the manner indicated in FIG. 2 of the patent to Arrighini et al., No. 2,526,529 of October 17, 1950. As therein shown, the tie or wedge pin or clip may be driven horizontally into the tie rod slot.

In either case, the tie or wedge pin 19, which is usually heat treated and thus rendered harder than the tie rod 1'9, takes line engagement with the outer rounded end of the bar along its side corners 21, with the effect of biting into the material of the rod as the pin is driven. Thus, with a minimum frictional resistance to the driving of the pin into place, nevertheless the latter is securely held in place, a feature of particular advantage when it is necessary to utilize the rod and pin combination in a horizontal plane, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The pin also has greater stability in the slot, due to its line-wedged engagement with the arcuate slot end, against a tendency to loosen up when the form equipment is vibrated in the placement of the concrete 2t) assisted by the use of an electrical or mechanical vibrator immersed in the material. Nevertheless, there is, as shown in FIG. 4, suflicient lateral clearance between the longer dimensioned sides of tie or wedge pin 19 and the linear portions 25 or". the sides of slot 18 to enable the pin to be readily and quickly inserted into the slot. In short, frictional resistance to unintended displacement of the pin from the slot is ample for the purpose, yet not so great as to prevent a ready dislodgment of the pin by a hammer tap when its removal is in order.

Thus, the tie rod-tie pin combination of the invention is one in which the taper and slotting of the rod facilitates removal of the latter in case of sticking to the cast concrete. Tapping on the smaller diameter of the rod will ordinarily displace the latter, however, if difiiculty is encountered, any suitable tool may be inserted in the exposed portion of elongated slot 20 (the tie or wedge pin 19 being removed) for the application of twisting torque to the rod to further assist in the removal. On the other hand, the special arcuate contour of the rod slot 18 is such as to coact with the rectangular cross sectional contour of the pin 19 in securing a desired frictional lock of the pin to the rod and waler 15 which is amply sufiicient for the purpose, without requiring the use of excessive force or care in the placement of the pin and, by the same token, permitting an equally easy removal of the pin and rod when the form is cast.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination of a form structure for use in the casting of material, which structure has a pair of spaced panels between which the material is cast, said panels being provided with aligned holes for the reception of a tie rod, said structure providing a fixed external portion; a tie rod disposed in said holes and comprising a length of rigid stock of solid cross sectional thickness, said rod being provided adjacent an end thereof with an elongated slot which extends transversely through said rod thickness, said slot having an end surface adjacent said rod end which is of outwardly convex curvature and is located outwardly of said external portion of said form structure, which surface is defined by an arcuate wall paralleling the transverse extent of the slot and extending fully across the depth of the latter, said slot being of generally rectangular cross sectional outline in a plane normal to its transverse extent and being of suflicient length to terminate at its opposite end inwardly of said external portion; and a pin received in said rod slot to hold said rod in fixed relation to said form structure, said pin being of elongated rectangular cross section in the direction of the slot length to provide opposed end surfaces of which one has spaced corners each in frictional line engagement with said outwardly convex end surface of said slot, the other end surface of said pin having frictional engagement with said external portion of said form structure to resist displacement of the pin from the slot.

2. The combination of a form structure for use in the casting of material, which structure has a pair of spaced panels between which the material is cast, said panels being provided with aligned holes for the reception of a tie rod, said structure providing a fixed external portion; a tie rod disposed in said holes and comprising a length of rigid stock of solid circular cross sectional thickness and tapered longitudinally of said length, said rod being provided adjacent an end thereof with an elongated slot which extends transversely and diametrally through said rod thickness, said slot having an end surface adjacent said rod end which is of outwardly convex curvature and is located outwardly of said external portion of said form structure, which surface is defined by an arcuate wall paralleling the transverse diametral extent of the slot and extending fully across the depth of the latter, said slot being of generally rectangular cross sectional outline in a plane normal to its transverse extent and being of sufficient length to terminate at its opposite end inwardly of said external portion; and a pin received in said rod slot to hold said rod in fixed relation to said form structure, said pin being of elongated rectangular cross section in the direction of the slot length to provide opposed end surfaces of which one has spaced corners each in frictional line engagement with said outwardly convex end surface of said slot, the other end surface of said pin having frictional engagement with said external portion of said form structure to resist displacement of the pin from the slot.

3. The combination of a form structure for use in the casting of material, said structure including a pair of spaced panels between which the material is cast, said panels being provided with aligned holes for the reception of a tie rod, and a waler fixedly engaging the exterior of said panel, said waler including a pair of spaced members paralleling one another and said panel outwardly of the latter; a tie rod disposed in said holes and extending outwardly between said waler members, said tie rod comprising a length of rigid stock of solid circular cross sectional thickness and tapered longitudinally of said length, said rod being provided adjacent an end thereof with an elongated slot which extends transversely V and diametrally through said rod thickness, said slot being in part defined at one end by a surface adjacent said rod I end which is of outwardly convex curvature and is located outwardly of said waler members, which surface includes an arcuate Wall paralleling the transverse diametral extent of the slot, said slot being of generally rectangular cross sectional outline in a plane normal to its transverse extent and being defined at its opposite end by an end surface located inwardly of said waler members; and a pin received in said rod slot to hold said rod in fixed relation to said waler, said pin being of elongated rectangular cross section in the direction of the slot length to provide opposed end surfaces of which one has spaced corners each in frictional line engagement with said outwardly convex end surface of said slot, the opposite end surface of said pin having frictional engagement with said waler members to resist displacement of the pin from the slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,924,630 Toogood Aug. 29, 1933 2,133,574 Roemisch Oct. 18, 1938 2,433,934 Symons Jan. 6, 1948 I 2,511,829 Arrighini June 20, 1950 

1. THE COMBINATION OF A FORM STRUCTURE FOR USE IN THE CASTING OF MATERIAL, WHICH STRUCTURE HAS A PAIR OF SPACED PANELS BETWEEN WHICH THE MATERIAL IS CAST, SAID PANELS BEING PROVIDED WITH ALIGNED HOLES FOR THE RECEPTION OF A TIE ROD, SAID STRUCTURE PROVIDING A FIXED EXTERNAL PORTION; A TIE ROD DISPOSED IN SAID HOLES AND COMPRISING A LENGTH OF RIGID STOCK OF SOLID CROSS SECTIONAL THICKNESS, SAID ROD BEING PROVIDED ADJACENT AN END THEREOF WITH AN ELONGATED SLOT WHICH EXTENDS TRANSVERSELY THROUGH SAID ROD THICKNESS, SAID SLOT HAVING AN END SURFACE ADJACENT SAID ROD END WHICH IS OF OUTWARDLY CONVEX CURVATURE AND IS LOCATED OUTWARDLY OF SAID EXTERNAL PORTION OF SAID FORM STRUCTURE, WHICH SURFACE IS DEFINED BY AN ARCUATE WALL PARALLELING THE TRANSVERSE EXTENT OF THE SLOT AND EXTENDING FULLY ACROSS THE DEPTH OF THE LATTER, SAID SLOT BEING OF GENERALLY RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTIONAL OUTLINE IN A PLANE NORMAL TO ITS TRANSVERSE EXTENT AND BEING OF SUFFICIENT LENGTH TO TERMINATE AT ITS OPPOSITE END INWARDLY OF SAID EXTERNAL PORTION; AND A PIN RECEIVED IN SAID ROD SLOT TO HOLD SAID ROD IN FIXED RELATION TO SAID FORM STRUCTURE, SAID PIN BEING OF ELONGATED RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION IN THE DIRECTION OF THE SLOT LENGTH TO PROVIDE OPPOSED END SURFACES OF WHICH ONE HAS SPACED CORNERS EACH IN FRICTIONAL LINE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID OUTWARDLY CONVEX END SURFACE OF SAID SLOT, THE OTHER END SURFACE OF SAID PIN HAVING FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID EXTERNAL PORTION OF SAID FORM STRUCTURE TO RESIST DISPLACEMENT OF THE PIN FROM THE SLOT. 